OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, April 6, 1983 The Michigan Daily e itigan 41) Ct Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Vol. XCIII No. 147 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board April will be 'do or die' month for world economy 0 Checking Becher A NN ARBOR voters are an unpredict- able lot. Monday they voted in Republican Mayor Louis Belcher for the fourth time, soundly rejected his efforts to repeal the $5 marijuana law, and booted two of his Republican cohorts-from the city council. Mixed results, to be sure. But the narrow margin of Belcher's victory points to the voters' displeasure with the veteran mayor's abuse of his position. According to several state legislators who caught him in the act, Belcher obtained state allocations for an airport expansion project which the council had rejected four times. Such activities reveal a man who has grown so accustomed to his position of power that he ignores the democratic method checks and balances. To encourage him to change his way, voters presented Belcher with a Ignoring 1- THE REAGAN administration has said on numerous occasions that it is committed to the principle of equal opportunities for minorities and women. To punctuate the assertion, it has brought a few minorities to visible positions within the administration. But beyond this tokenism, recent ac- tions taken by the administration show the commitment means little. The Labor Department is planning to issue new rules for federal contractors that would significantly weaken the government's commitment to affir- mative action. The new rules would reduce the number of contractors required to prepare written affir- mative action plans and would also require individuals to prove they are "identifiable victims'' of discrimination. In effect, these measures would make it virtually impossible for in- dividuals to obtain redress for discriminatory acitons. They would also make it very difficult for various civil rights or women's organizations squeaker of a re-election vote Monday night. But that was the public's last chance to exercise any direct control over their veteran mayor; Belcher will leave the council after he serves this two-year term. In this case, that is an ominous an- nouncement. Belcher has already demonstrated his disregard for council authority and, by doing so, has broken the trust of the voters who put him in office. Now that Belcher has made it known he will not be seeking re- election again, voters will no longer have a way to express their disap- proval if he decides to ignore the coun- cil again. The narrowness of his victory is evidence of the apprehension about his "strong" leadership. And so it will be up to council, with its unfortunate one- vote Republican margin, to keep an eye on Belcher. nj ustice to file complaints on behalf of workers who fear employer reprisals if they file complaints themselves. The previous rules, which had been upheld by the Supreme Court, referred to classes, not individuals, and place the burden of proof on the employer. Clearly, after 40 years of bipartisan efforts to improve opportunities for minorities and women, the ad- ministration is moving in the wrong direction. After years of discrimination codified in law and social values, the government cannot sit back and expect the wrong to correct itself. When there are groups who have suffered for so long because of their ethnic background or gender, remedial action is necessary and legal under the Constitution. The Reagan administration is ignoring a history of injustice and the needs of minorities and women. At a time when the government should be at the forefront of efforts to break down the ethnic and gender employment barrier, the administration is instead moving backward. By Franz Schurmar For some weeks Americans h treated to news of increasing) economic indicators. These signs h short of conclusive - so far. I probably will tell whether we are, i the way to robust recovery or abot back into stagnation. The key action comes form antic interest-rate behavior. Despite a fev readings have been going down st( ce last August. Viewing this as a ha recovery, the stock market went u Now, however, nervous comm coming form business analysts wh downward trend may end soon. money traders, sensing the change, beginning to consider shifting fund American markets, as they did wh interest rate last soared. THE MEDIA may treat this as marketplace news, which will brir some Americans and loss to othe fact the U.S. prime ratechas be world's most important economic barometer: Low interest ratesj growth-bringing rain of inexpensiv high rates portend a parched earth. It would seem political madne. Reagan administration, with i already on the 1984 election, to be ned by possible Federal Reser moves to raise interest rates once keep them from dropping any futh high interest rates through the fir 1980 helped defeat Jimmy Carter a in November of that year. The problem is that the Federal interest rate policies are determi Wassermai more than what is needed by the U.S. nn economy - or by American politicians. The U.S. economy, as the prime-rate global ave been barometer and our own import and export y bright dependence show; is inextricably embedded have been in the world economy. Thus, while ad- But April ministrations can and have used fiscal in fact, on devices for electoral purposes, making ut to slide similar use of monetary power could mean throwing the world into turmoil for selfishly ipation of political ends. v lags, the JUST WHEN signs of recovery in the eadily sin- United States began to multiply, so too did rbinger of signs of trouble in the world economy. The p and up. dangers go beyond the recession and ents are depression of widespread deindustrialization o fear the and could quickly lead to a breakdown of the European world financial system if remedies are not are again found. The month of April will be critical; Is back to should no solutions arise soon, we shall be m the U.S. movinginto a dangeroussnew state of world history. the usual The main troubles spring from the break- ng gain to down of OPEC, the British financial pinch and rs. But in an overall French economic crisis. If OPEC's ~come the hard-bargained oil price of $29 per barrel does c weather not hold, Mexico and Nigeria will be pushed to mean the the brink of bankruptcy, and Iran will be e capital; pressured to make another effort to defeat Iraq militarily. The fate of the $29 price ss for the depends greatly upon Britain, which ignited ts sights this year's earlier oil-price war. With the unconcer- pound sterling plummeting in value, the ve Board British must sell more and more North Sea again or to oil just to stay even. er. Indeed, The British are hardly alone. The entire st third of world needs more money to stay even right it the polls now. This is certainly the story in France, where the Mitt:erand government needs Reserve's much, much more money to keep expensive ned by far defense and entitlements programs afloat, n' even as French capital has been fleeing Mit- terand's socialist policies, high inflation and the weakening franc. IN OTHER WORDS, there are many in- ducements for an increased money supply around the world. When the world's money supply goes up, however, so does the Fed's -' prime rate. To complete the vicious circle, , that means putting a crimp into Reaganomic recovery. Even before this month some frantic agreements-to-agree had been reached. British Petroleum said it would not yet lower the price of oil; the London OPEC meeting led to an accord on the $29-per-barrel price; Mexico held the line. April will tell whether these buds turn into blossoms. The world financial system: is a rubbery network built upon such agreements, and a willingness to help out occasionally with' money loanstand swaps. When U.S. interest rates went down, many people abroad welcomed the possible return of an American "locomotive" whose recovery would get numerous economies moving again. But others feared the United States' self-concern and world political weakness were stretching * the network to the breaking point. In April the world's leaders, including the Reagan administration, will decide whether they again can agree to agree, or threaten to cut loose from the system as Mitterand did in regard to the European currency union. Going it alone would lead the world's nations into isolationism and nationalism. The result, among other things, would be havoc in the U.S. economy. Schurmann wrote this article for' . Pacific News Service. _. - TH O-cA VED cu(ou; i2E5 .; }f ! 7 BUT IL&1sTATE To SU6YVRT A, S L EFT IS~T OV ECW ( MA N X LEG Y IWNK IT'S IT FOR A TIST OV\/EtASNT, SN tCt 1'A&Ut.To 0 ,it PAVPY HAS TO SUPPORT AABT" II l .' zO r 14 F ILA M ap [l 0 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Daily wrong on MSA Proposal B 0 To the Daily: The Daily suggests that studen- ts vote no on MSA ballot Proposal B ("No to MSA on A,B,C" Daily, April 5), which calls for a professionally staffed research and training center (The Student center Educational Research and Innovation) to be funded by students. The Daily argues that this cen- ter sets out to do what MSA is supposed to be doing already, and that SOAP already is taking care of some of the tasks for the cen- ter, and that the Institute for Social Research could carry out other planned aspects of the cen- ter. These assumptions, though logical, fail to understand the day-to-day realities of University operations. First, MSA in and of itself can not carry out the cen- ter's proposed tasks as MSA representatives generally lack the kind of skills that a center like SCERI can teach them. My ar- ticle in the most recent issue of the MSA NEWS spells this out in $7.65/student/term in student fees. That is a lot of money ($500,000+); if the Union revitalization is unsuccessful, the Union Director is out of a job. Thus, it is likely that SOAP will carry out tasks required for the success of the Union. Where does that leave time for the types of research and training that students need, activities that SCERI should and will carry out if it is set up? Third, The Institute for Social Research is one of the only University units that receives no general fund monies. In other words, any studies on University students carried out by ISR would require that ISR be paid. And, because of ISR's high overhead costs, the likelihood of it engaging in long term study of these issues is negligible because the costs involved are exorbitant. In conclusion, I would like to point out that Proposal B was put on the MSA ballot because 1,250 students saw the need for such center - they signed a petition saying so. Proposal B is perhaps 41.,. firm. cf.4.. _ra nnr.. ~ 4,J Rl C'A with student's current situation into effective, competent action. In-fighting among students, the Daily versus MSA, MSA versus the Daily, gets us nowhere. - Richard Layman April 5 S.. and Proposal A To the Daily:, Your editorial urging students to vote "No" on MSA proposals both surprises and shocks us ("'No' to MSA on A,B,C," Daily, April 5). You state that you endorse and support the MSA sponsored programs which together use 74% of the MSA's fee, but claim also that students should vote against maintaining the fee. You have irresponsibly urged studen- ts to take an inherently dangerous position. It in no way can be safely assumed that the Regents will somehow ignore a negative tally on proposal A and divine, as you suggest they will, that students have thereby approved main- taining current funding for MSA questioned our existence or level of funding has always been to point out that of the entire University gamut of programs, courses and services, the MSA services alone are put to a democratic vote by students. Again, historically, that has meant a great deal to the Regents as they have deliberated our fate. It is foolhardy at best to. threaten to leave Student Legal Services and the other valuable services at this time of general University program reduction': without our mainstay of student': support. With the Regents," presently considering all sorts of' program reductions, a negative' tally on proposal A would leave' us extra-vulnerable for con- siderable reduction or elimination.